“You… when do you want to marry me?”
Yu Ce abruptly turned around, meeting Shen Tanqi’s black eyes, shining with a faint watery light, like those of a cat quietly assessing him. His eyelashes trembled slightly, soft and cautious.
His breath caught, Yu Ce stared at him in a daze, momentarily forgetting where he was or even who he was.
Seeing him lost in thought, Shen Tanqi seemed to ponder for a moment, then suddenly lifted his head, lightly brushing his lips against Yu Ce’s, fingertips resting on his immaculate shirtfront. Sensing Yu Ce’s wildly erratic heartbeat, which pounded like a drum.
He bit his lip, asking softly, “Yu Ce, shall we get married when we return?”
“Don’t you want to?”
“I think about marrying you every day.”
Like wildfire in dry grass, Shen Tanqi’s words instantly ignited a raging fire. Breathing heavily and hot, Yu Ce suddenly grabbed Shen Tanqi’s wrist, his eyes revealing a restrained darkness, as if the long-lost vulnerability was about to erupt.
Shen Tanqi looked up, his eyes shimmering with watery hues, looking at him with a mix of confusion and innocence, quietly waiting for Yu Ce’s response.
With just one glance, Yu Ce’s felt as though his mind was set ablaze by Shen Tanqi’s presence, leaving nothing but blank space.
“Tomorrow, after the sword trial ends,” Yu Ce pulled him into his arms, kissing him on those crimson lips passionately, stealing Shen Tanqi’s breath away, whispering between their lips, “I will marry you, Ah Qi, I want to marry you.”
He felt incredibly fortunate to have met someone as wonderful as Ah Qi. Since his mother’s death when he was ten, he had struggled to escape from Hidden Dragon Valley, believing he would spend his life alone, perhaps dying in some unknown lonely grave.
But Ah Qi gave him a home, three adorable children, and a life without regrets.
He wanted to marry him and bring him home.
He wanted everyone to know that Ah Qi belonged to him.
He wanted to spend the rest of his life giving himself completely to Shen Tanqi.
His hand from within his sleeve lifted Shen Tanqi effortlessly, causing Shen Tanqi to gasp instinctively as Yu Ce kicked open a nearby vacant room and closed the door with a bang.
Shen Tanqi found himself pressed against the table; teacups and a wine jug clinked together on it. Before he could say anything, his lips were sealed again, muffling his remaining voice, leaving only the soft, whimpering sounds of kisses.
“Ah Qi, call me husband,” Yu Ce kissed his neck inch by inch, his eyes deepening, his voice almost pleading, “Quickly, call me husband.”
Dazed by the kisses, Shen Tanqi’s face flushed with heat, feeling strangely ashamed, his voice barely a whisper, “Husband…”
As soon as he blurted it out, his shirt was impatiently torn open, sensing he couldn’t keep them on, Shen Tan hurriedly exclaimed, “To the bed!”
Yu Ce pressed his lips together, wasting no time, immediately picking up Shen Tan and burying him into the soft depths of the bed.
As the moonlight grew brighter, a slender, milky-white arm slipped out from under the plain quilt, only to be caught and pulled back by another hand, faintly veined with pale blue.
“Not sleeping yet?” Yu Ce leaned on his shoulder, noticing the various marks on Shen Tanqi’s body, his voice tinged with apology, “Are you uncomfortable? Shall I call for hot water to wash you?”
Shen Tanqi glanced at him, hoarsely saying, “No need.”
Washing up again and again, he was exhausted.
If he had known Yu Ce would react so strongly, he wouldn’t have brought up marriage so early.
With the sword trial tomorrow afternoon, being up so late, how could he beat Yu Ce?
This brat must be deliberately wearing him out before the competition.
No, he had to get up later tonight and practice another set of Rongyun Sword Art to outwit Yu Ce.
Yu Ce seemed to sense his thoughts and apologized softly, “You kept staring at me, I couldn’t resist.”
Shen Tanqi: “…?”
As if it’s his fault now.
He turned around and glared at Yu Ce, gritting his teeth, “Could you just shut up for a while?”
Shen Tanqi got up to put on his outer garment, his legs still trembling uncontrollably. Yu Ce leaned against the edge of the bed, his gaze falling on Shen Tan’s legs, pale and illuminated by the moonlight, with his fingerprints still visible.
His throat tightened, he resisted for a moment, burying his face in the pillow, unable to look anymore.
“Come back soon,” Yu Ce’s voice sounded muffled.
Shen Tanqi turned his head to look at him, seeing him grabbing the blanket to cover his face, couldn’t help but laugh at him, “Now you’re shy? You weren’t like this just now.”
Under the thin blanket, Yu Ce’s voice came softly, “Not shy. I’m afraid that if I look at you again, you can’t leave.”
Shen Tanqi: …
Damn, is he being threatened? That’s definitely a threat, right?
Without thinking twice, he hurriedly put on his clothes and shoes, casually tied up his hair, and dashed out as if escaping. However, the shirt Yu Ce had torn at the collar was no good; he grabbed a new one from his storage ring.
After Shenqi Tan left, Yu Ce pulled down the soft blanket. His dark hair fell on Shen Tan’s snowy-white inner garment, the colors stark against each other. He bowed his head and lightly sniffed, as if he could still feel Shen Tanqi’s warmth. Yu Ce held the shirt tighter.
Even though Shen Tan had just left, he already missed Ah Qi.
Missed him so much.
Early the next day,
Shen Tanqi, with dark circles under his eyes and sore all over, sat heavily in the carriage.
The sword trial was held in Yudong City. After the morning alchemy competition ended, both Shen Tanqi and Yu Ce were among the top contenders. The competition was fierce, but Lin Tanjiu still held the first place.
This was the final trial of the sect’s grand competition. After the trial, the disciple with the highest score would be the champion of the competition.
Naturally, achieving first place in swordsmanship among such talented disciples was an achievement in itself; the champion title was merely symbolic.
Inside the carriage, Goldfish and Taro Ball looked curiously out the window. They watched the scenery change from golden autumn with lush orchards to bare ancient trees dusted with snow.
“Daddy,” Goldfish blinked, nibbling on a sweet sticky rice candy, and asked innocently, “Why is it starting to snow outside? Is it winter now?”
Shen Tanqi embraced the little one, putting on a blue rabbit fur jacket, and smiled as he explained, “It’s actually spring now, but we’ve arrived in the southern cities where the weather is cold.”
Yudong City is the farthest city from Rongyun Sect, but it still falls within Rongyun’s protection range, though Shen Tanqi wasn’t entirely clear on this. He looked at Yu Ce with some confusion, “Why do you think Yudong City is protected by the Rongyun Sect when the Feiluan Sect is closer?”
Yu Ce took out a new set of clothes from his storage ring and dressed Taro Ball as well, buttoning it up thoughtfully. “It seems that something happened in Yudong City before that angered the Sect Master of Feiluan, so Feiluan stopped protecting Yudong.”
Old matters that most people nowadays don’t remember well. Perhaps only the elderly in the city have some memories of the past events.
Yu Ce himself had only heard about this incident in passing during his travels across the seas, and he learned about it by chance when passing through Yudong City.
Lin Tanjiu and Xiao Yu said they wanted to discuss tactics and, to avoid suspicion, they didn’t ride in the same carriage as them. At a time like this, asking disciples of the Feiluan Sect might reveal some insight into the cause.
But it was probably something not too significant; disputes between major sects were common. Perhaps the Rongyun Sect had simply taken over the territory, or the Feiluan Sect didn’t want to spend resources protecting surrounding cities.
Anyway, it didn’t have much to do with them.
Shen Tanqi pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the corners of Taro Ball’s mouth, whispering softly, “Goldfish, you should eat less candy in the future, to avoid tooth decay, okay?”
Goldfish pouted and nodded obediently, “Okay, Daddy.” When daddy wasn’t looking, he would sneakily eat a little bit, just a tiny bit.
Taro Ball leaned over and said, “I heard that! I’ll watch over big brother.”
Goldfish wailed and hugged his little brother, pretending to cry, “No, Erdan!”
Taro Ball pushed Goldfish away gently and said with a mix of laughter and tears, “Stop messing around, big brother. It hurts a lot when your teeth go bad. Daddy is doing this for your own good.”
“Ugh…,” Goldfish nodded reluctantly and stuffed the remaining candies in his pocket into Taro Ball’s hand, “Then, you can have them all.”
He’s definitely going to… try harder to eat less in the future!
Upon arriving at Yudong City, a biting north wind blew against their faces, almost blowing the two little ones over. Fortunately, Goldfish had some weight to him, and Taro Ball had enough cultivation to steady himself. The two hugged tightly together, resembling tiny ants caught in a sea of waves.
Shen Tanqi felt the wind on his face like knives, struggling to keep his eyes open. He ended up hiding behind Yu Ce, using him as a windbreak.
“Where is the trial platform…” Shen Tanqi tried to open his eyes, but snowflakes flew into them, causing him to quickly retreat behind Yu Ce.
After a moment, Shen Tanqi felt the wind calm down and the snow stop. He slowly opened his eyes to find himself and the little ones surrounded by a protective bubble.
Yu Ce’s deep chuckle reached his ears. “Still cold?”
Shen Tanqi reached out and touched the barrier, nodding with satisfaction, “Not cold; it’s okay. I finally feel a little like I’m hugging the male lead’s thigh.”
As they approached the vicinity of the trial platform, they received unexpected news.
“There’s a disturbance in the city by the daemons, causing casualties, plus the weather is severe. The first round of trials is temporarily suspended!”
After the elder in charge finished speaking, he urged the disciples to return to their carriages and find lodging in nearby inns.
Shen Tanqi watched as the disciples dispersed from around the trial platform. Amidst the crowd, he heard murmurs of discontent.
“Why are we so unlucky to encounter daemons causing trouble! I prepared all night yesterday, and it’s all for nothing.”
“Exactly! Daemons are beasts, naturally cruel. Killing is second nature to them. They should have been driven out of the city long ago, just like in Shuoxia. Then it would be peaceful.”
“Enough talk! There’s still a daemon ranked on the leaderboard. Be careful, if he gets angry, he might claw you and eat your heart and lungs…”
Gripping his sword tightly, Shen Tanqi looked towards the young disciples from an unknown sect and said coldly, “What nonsense. Do you think only daemons kill people? Do you think bad people care whether you’re human or daemon?”
The few disciples naturally recognized Shen Tanqi, the favored young master of the Shen family in Shuoxia City, who had taken first place in both the demon-slaying and alchemy trials favored by the Qingliu Sect elder. They glanced at him and immediately shut their mouths, quickly moving away from him.
As they left, Shen Tan still shouted angrily, “If I encounter you during the sword trial, I’ll make you call out to your ancestors!”
Just as he finished shouting, his sleeve was gently tugged.
Yu Ce’s voice was calm, almost blending into the cold wind, “That’s enough. Let’s go back to the inn.”
“But they…” Shen Tanqi gritted his teeth, his knuckles clenched tightly.
Yu Ce sighed lightly, somewhat resigned, “They’re not just targeting me. They’re disciples from smaller sects, resentful for not being able to rank higher among the major sects. Arguing with such people only lowers your own dignity.”
Shen Tanqi glanced at him, shook the sword in his hand, and said, “I have no dignity. I’m naturally uncultured. Just wait for me to deal with them during the sword trial.”
If he didn’t beat them up so that they were so scared they pee’d, he wouldn’t be called Shen Tanqi.
Yu Ce knew he was sticking up for himself, and while he felt a touch of warmth, he also felt confused.
He looked up at the snowy Yudong City, where the sky was extremely dark, as if brewing some kind of conspiracy, with sin taking root and sprouting in dark corners.
At this time, daemons were killing people and fleeing in the city, which seemed too coincidental. He had a bad premonition.
A scene suddenly flashed through Yu Ce’s mind.
It was his first visit to Yudong City. Along the main street of the city, he encountered a ragged old monk. The monk’s clothes were torn with several large holes, the north wind howled around him, yet his complexion remained strangely healthy and red.
Standing before the old monk, Yu Ce offered the last of his dry rations.
The old monk looked up at him and smiled gratefully.
He left Yu Ce with a question.
“The answer you couldn’t find when you were ten years old, have you found it?”
Yu Ce jolted awake from his memory. He couldn’t recall when this memory had occurred, nor what he had replied at the time, as if it had been forcibly erased from his life.
The answer he didn’t find at ten was from when he went to Shuoxia to investigate the death of Lady Shen, the Shen family’s matriarch. Yet, to this day, Yu Ce still didn’t know why she died, nor had he cleared his father’s name of the wrongful accusation.
But Yu Ce quickly remembered the old monk’s words after that. The old monk took a bite of the dry ration, swallowed it with difficulty, yet still wore a smile on his face.
He said, “Don’t rush.”
“One day, you’ll meet the person destined for you, and everything will come to light.”
Yu Ce remembered everything. He had asked, “Where is that destined person now?”
The old monk pointed to the night sky and laughed, “He, he is not here.”
“He is… a man from outside this realm.”
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
